Business
Tim Cook’s array of new products boosted Apple Inc.’s sales growth last quarter to the highest level in three years, Bloomberg News reports, with momentum set to continue as the company rolls out its first smartwatch.
Apple on Tuesday posted a 30 percent jump in fiscal first-quarter revenue to $74.6 billion, as net income rose 38 percent to a record $18 billion. The results were fueled by sales of larger-screened iPhones and refreshed Mac computers that Apple had unveiled in September, part of a barrage of new products from Chief Executive Officer Cook as he sought to revitalize the company’s revenue.
The growth was Apple’s most robust since the fiscal second quarter of 2012, when revenue soared 59 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Cupertino, California-based company forecast the strong performance would continue, projecting revenue would rise by at least 14 percent in the March quarter. Cook also said Apple would ship the Apple Watch - its first new gadget category since debuting the iPad in 2010 - starting in April.
Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Apple-shareholder Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta, Georgia, said that the report was a good sign in a quarter where big tech companies such as IBM and Microsoft Corp have disappointed.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters in an interview that the company did not sell more iPhones in China than the United States, despite some earlier predictions by research analysts. But the big-screen iPhone 6 and 6 plus drove revenues in China were up 70 percent in the quarter from a year earlier.
The company's success in the competitive Chinese market can be attributed to its partnership with China Mobile Ltd, the largest global mobile carrier, and the appeal of the larger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Maestri said he does not expect Apple to struggle because of China's slipping economic growth. "We haven't seen a slowdown," he added. Maestri also said the company doubled iPhone sales in Singapore and Brazil.
